SolarWinds® Server & Application Monitor
Server Application Monitor
Turn application insight into faster resolution.
What is a server application monitor?
A server application monitor tracks server and application health, availability, and performance, including CPU, memory, response time, resource use, and dependencies.
Resolve issues faster with unified server and application monitoring
Monitor servers, applications, and dependencies in one place so you can find issues sooner and keep critical services running smoothly.
Visibility
See your full application stack with end-to-end monitoring
Eliminate blind spots across on-prem, hybrid, and cloud environments.
Gain full visibility into your IT environment with continuous app server monitoring. SAM tracks every server and application component — CPU, memory, disk, response time, and availability — so you can detect issues early and maintain optimal performance. Cross-stack correlation connects server health to application behavior, helping teams troubleshoot faster and reduce downtime.
- Monitor CPU, memory, disk/storage, and response time across physical and virtual servers
- Track application availability and performance with over 250 prebuilt templates
- Correlate server and application metrics in a single view to isolate root causes
Capacity
Prevent resource exhaustion with server capacity planning
Forecast growth and avoid bottlenecks before they impact users.
Monitor server capacity to plan for future growth with confidence. SAM tracks CPU, memory, and storage usage trends, giving you actionable insights to right-size resources and prevent bottlenecks. Accurate server capacity planning helps ensure your applications always have the resources they need to perform at their best.
- Track CPU, memory, and storage utilization trends over time
- Forecast capacity needs based on historical growth patterns
- Set configurable alerts for threshold-based warnings before resources run out
Custom Apps
Monitor custom and commercial applications with tailored templates
Flexible monitoring for the apps that matter to your business.
SAM offers in-depth custom application monitoring with over 250 out-of-the-box templates and the flexibility to build your own. Track performance metrics, detect bottlenecks, and troubleshoot issues specific to your applications — whether they run on Windows, Linux, or in the cloud. This flexibility makes it a powerful application monitor for diverse, evolving environments.
- Choose from 250+ prebuilt application monitor templates for rapid deployment
- Create custom templates for proprietary or commercial applications
- Use AppInsight™ for deep-dive monitoring of SQL Server, IIS, Exchange, and Active Directory
Dependencies
Pinpoint root causes with application dependency mapping
Visualize relationships to see exactly where problems start.
Visualize server and application relationships with powerful application dependency mapping. SAM automatically discovers and maps dependencies across your environment, so you can quickly identify which component is causing the issue and reduce downtime.
- Auto-discover application dependencies across your hybrid IT environment
- Map relationships between servers, applications, and infrastructure monitoring layers
- Drill from dependency maps directly into component-level performance metrics
Hybrid Cloud
Track Azure performance alongside on-premises workloads
Monitor cloud infrastructure without switching consoles.
Monitor Azure in real time alongside your existing applications and infrastructure. SAM tracks performance, availability, and dependencies for cloud-native apps, virtual machines, and cloud databases — all from the same console as your on-premises servers. Manage cloud infrastructure the same way you manage on-prem, making it an essential part of your server application monitor strategy.
- Track Azure VM performance, availability, and dependency metrics in real time
- Monitor cloud-native apps alongside on-premises servers in a single view
- Set custom alerts for cloud entity state changes and performance thresholds
Go deeper into SAM capabilities
Explore the mechanics behind faster resolution and proactive monitoring.
Integrate seamlessly with your entire IT stack
SAM monitors over 250 apps and systems out of the box, covering the vendors and platforms your teams already rely on.
What our customers say
Server application monitor FAQ
What is a server application monitor?
What is a server application monitor?
A server application monitor is a software tool that tracks the health, availability, and performance of servers and applications by monitoring metrics such as CPU, memory, disk, response time, resource utilization, application health, and dependencies. It helps IT teams detect performance problems quickly, identify root causes, and maintain application availability across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments. SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) provides this visibility from a single console with over 250 prebuilt monitoring templates.
What servers and applications does SAM monitor?
What servers and applications does SAM monitor?
SAM monitors over 250 application types out of the box, including application servers, authentication servers, database servers, web servers, and more. It tracks metrics across Windows, Linux, VMware, Azure, and AWS environments. Specialized AppInsight™ templates provide deep-dive monitoring for Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange, IIS, and Active Directory. You can also create custom templates for proprietary or commercial applications using component monitors for services, processes, ports, URLs, and performance counters.
How does app server monitoring work in SAM?
How does app server monitoring work in SAM?
SAM collects performance data using both agentless and agent-based methods. Agentless polling uses SNMP, WMI, scripts including PowerShell, RPC, and a customizable API poller for static infrastructure. For ephemeral environments or Kubernetes workloads, SAM supports agent-based collection with DaemonSets and direct cloud integrations. You assign prebuilt or custom templates to nodes, and each template creates individual application monitors that actively collect data via polling. Cross-stack correlation then links server metrics to application health for faster root-cause isolation.
Is SolarWinds SAM agentless or agent-based?
Is SolarWinds SAM agentless or agent-based?
SAM supports both agentless and agent-based monitoring. Agentless polling uses SNMP, WMI, scripts including PowerShell, RPC, and a customizable API poller — ideal for static infrastructure where deploying agents isn't practical or permitted. For ephemeral environments or Kubernetes workloads, SAM supports agent-based collection with DaemonSets and direct cloud integrations. This flexibility lets you choose the right approach per workload rather than being locked into a single collection model.
What is the difference between SolarWinds SAM and SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted?
What is the difference between SolarWinds SAM and SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted?
SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) is a standalone Orion module focused on server and application monitoring. SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted is the broader platform that includes the capabilities of SAM alongside network, infrastructure, database, virtualization, and log monitoring capabilities. SAM is also available as a standalone module for teams that need server and application monitoring without the full platform. If your monitoring needs grow beyond servers and applications, you can upgrade to Observability Self-Hosted without losing your existing configuration.
Do companies use SolarWinds for server and application monitoring?
Do companies use SolarWinds for server and application monitoring?
Yes. Thousands of organizations rely on SolarWinds SAM for server and application monitoring across hybrid IT environments. For example, RigNet, a Viasat company, uses SolarWinds Observability alongside SAM to monitor approximately 8,000 nodes across 10 polling engines, empowering the company to proactively detect issues and maintain consistent service quality for oil and gas customers worldwide. SAM's 250+ out-of-the-box templates and automated discovery make it a proven choice for IT operations teams of any size.
How much does SolarWinds SAM cost?
How much does SolarWinds SAM cost?
SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is licensed via a node-based subscription model. Pricing scales with the number of monitored nodes and the tier of features you need. SAM is also available as part of SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted, which bundles multiple monitoring capabilities into a single platform. For a custom quote based on your environment size, request a quote or contact our sales team.
Trusted by thousands
SolarWinds® Server and Application Monitor (SAM) features are also available as a standalone Orion® module. Contact Sales for a custom quote.
